Awarded to a consortium made up of various entities of Veolia Japan, major Japanese company JFE Engineering, and local contractors, this outsourcing contract for all water services is the first of its kind in Japan.

Veolia, as part of a consortium, has been awarded a unique contract by Kanagawa Prefecture. Starting from April 2014, it will be managing all water services for five years for the town of Hakone, located to the west of Tokyo.

Worth overall revenue of 28 million euros, of which half will be for Veolia, the operate and maintain contract covers water production and distribution, customer service, and construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure (pipes, installations, etc.) for this tourist destination, where demand for water differs enormously between the high and low seasons.

The consortium will service Hakone's main neighborhoods (Midono, Italy and Shinanogi). Each sector has its own water production plant, raw water source and distribution system.

"Veolia is the only private foreign operator to have been awarded public service management contracts in Japan, which only recently opened up to the idea of public-private partnerships. Winning this contract, which is the first of its kind in the country, is a great boost to our market penetration and our profile. It's an excellent opportunity to become a true benchmark for outsourced management in Japan and raise our market share."

Régis Calmels

Asia Zone Director for Veolia

First full drinking water service

This part of the world is well known for its onsen, or natural hot springs. Veolia will be in charge of operating the raw water supply system for this essential element of Japanese life. Some 5,000 cubic meters of raw water will be pumped each day from a reservoir located 400 meters below the plant.

Since beginning operations in Japan in 2002, Veolia has won many contracts that illustrate the pertinence of its business development model and the quality of the services and technical solutions it provides to its municipal and industrial clients.